Magazine article on the Egyptian Labour Corps

Description

Magazine article combining a narrative of service for the British Empire with the First World War.

Context

The Wide World Magazine was a popular weekly publication aimed at an adult audience. Heavily illustrated, it contained in the main adventure stories set in remote places alongside information on nature, animals, technical developments, or pseudo-anthropology. Its signature style became the fact that the stories were always written by first-hand reporters, such as missionaries, explorers, or soldiers. The focus of the magazine was not solely on the British Empire, but it nonetheless propagated the superiority of Western culture and a racial hierarchy with white men on top. From the outbreak of war, most stories made some reference to military aspects (as in this case the Egyptian Labour Corps) but, ultimately, they continued to present the colonial social and racial expectations of its readers.

Citation

Cultural Exchange in a Time of Global Conflict:Colonials, Neutrals and Belligerents during the First World War

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 291827.

The project ‘Cultural Exchange in a Time of Global Conflict: Colonials, Neutrals and Belligerents during the First World War’ is financially supported by the HERA Joint Research Programme Cultural Encounters (www.heranet.info) which is co-funded by AHRC, AKA, BMBF via PT-DLR, DASTI, ETAG, FCT, FNR, FNRS, FWF, FWO, HAZU, IRC, LMT, MHEST, NWO, NCN, RANNÍS, RCN, VR and The European Community FP7 2007-2013, under the Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities programme.